The Pink Martian

by meandyoulookbook

The largest round fancy intense pink diamond to ever appear at auction will be part of Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale on May 29. It is one of only two known round pink diamonds of significant size in the world.

The extremely rare diamond is owned by a private collector. It was purchased from Harry Winston in 1976 – the same year, the United States launched its first satellite on a mission to Mars. The Viking landers were the pioneering spacecrafts to first land on the Red Planet. Ronald Winston named the diamond the “Martian Pink” to honour the historic event. The auction estimate is $8 to $10 million.

The Martian Pink is one of two known significant sized round pink diamonds in this world – the other being the 23.60-carat Williamson Pink diamond that was presented to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her wedding in 1947. While most natural pink diamonds exhibit a colour modifier like purple, orange or grey, the gem that is up for auction shows absolutely no trace of a secondary colour, making it exceedingly rare. Combined with a Type IIa characteristic, the diamond shows an extraordinary limpidity together with a lovely intense pink colouration.